The present invention relates to toy vehicles and more particularly to toy fire engines including aerial ladders.
One highly desirable toy fire engine is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,735,528. It shows an aerial ladder for a toy fire truck including a bracket for mounting the ladder to a truck body. The disclosed mounting uses a pin on which the ladder bracket is pivotal. Such fire truck extension ladder has a crank and gear device for changing the angular elevation of the ladder thereby raising and lowering the aerial ladder.
In the past, a variety of other toy fire engines have been available with extension ladders and resembling full sized fire engines. Such toy fire trucks or engines have typically included loose ladders which the child may handle and position during play. Such ladders add substantially to the child's enjoyment of the toy. Toy store operators have encountered difficulties with respect to such ladders in that the loose ladders are often lost due to shoplifting. Thus, there is a recognized need for developing an approach whereby loose ladders may be secured with regard to the fire truck at least until the toy is sold. Moreover, during play, the child may encounter some difficulty in maintaining the loose ladders on the fire truck as the child maneuvers the fire truck about.